Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is the process of resolving a dispute or a conflict by meeting at least some of each side’s needs and addressing their interests. Conflict resolution sometimes requires both a power-based and an interest-based approach, such as the simultaneous pursuit of litigation (the use of legal power) and negotiation (attempts to reconcile each party’s interests). There are a number of powerful strategies for conflict resolution.

Knowing how to manage and resolve conflict is essential for having a productive work life, and it is important for community and family life as well. Dispute resolution, to use another common term, is a relatively new field, emerging after World War II. Scholars from the Program on Negotiation were leaders in establishing the field.

Strategies include maintaining open lines of communication, asking other parties to mediate, and keeping sight of your underlying interests. In addition, negotiators can try to resolve conflict by creating value out of conflict, in which you try to capitalize on shared interests; explore differences in preferences, priorities, and resources; capitalize on differences in forecasts and risk preferences; and address potential implementation problems up front.

These skills are useful in crisis negotiation situations and in handling cultural differences in negotiations, and can be invaluable when dealing with difficult people, helping you to “build a golden bridge” and listen to learn, in which you acknowledge the other person’s points before asking him or her to acknowledge yours.

Articles offer numerous examples of dispute resolution and explore various aspects of it, including international dispute resolution, how it can be useful in your personal life, skills needed to achieve it, and training that hones those skills.

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Should You Dwell on Past Negotiation Outcomes?

PON Staff   •  02/22/2011   •  Filed in Conflict Resolution, Daily

Adapted from “Learn to Negotiate with an Open Mind,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

After wrapping up a difficult negotiation, it’s tempting to forget about it and move on. The regret triggered by counterfactual thinking, or reflections on “what might have been,” can be so painful that many people will do whatever they can to … Read Should You Dwell on Past Negotiation Outcomes?

Avoid the Green-eyed Monster

PON Staff   •  02/08/2011   •  Filed in Conflict Resolution

Adapted from “Negotiating with the Green-eyed Monster,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Envy can cause us to engage in deception at the bargaining table. That’s the cautionary finding of research by Simone Moran of Ben-Gurion University in Israel and Maurice E. Schweitzer of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Why might negotiators be more … Read Avoid the Green-eyed Monster

Looking for a Breakthrough

PON Staff   •  02/07/2011   •  Filed in Conflict Resolution

Adapted from “Speaking the Same Language,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Negotiators can find themselves talking past each other for hours, even days. Then suddenly something happens–a breakthrough. The parties begin conversing on a different plane, one that reveals solutions to problems that had seemed intractable.

Professor Linda Putnam, a communications scholar at Texas A&M University, … Read Looking for a Breakthrough

Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program receives Conflict Prevention and Resolution Institute’s 2010 Award

PON Staff   •  01/21/2011   •  Filed in Awards, Grants, and Fellowships, Conflict Resolution, Daily, Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, News

The Conflict Prevention and Resolution Institute (CPR) selected the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) to be the recipient of its 2010 Problem Solving in the Law School Curriculum Award at its annual awards banquet on January 11, 2011 at the New York offices of Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.  The clinic’s director and founder, … Learn More About This Program

When Teams Work

PON Staff   •  01/17/2011   •  Filed in Conflict Resolution

Adapted from “The Surprising Benefits of Conflict in Negotiating Teams,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

In December 2008, incoming U.S. president Barack Obama created a stir by appointing Senator Hillary Clinton, his bitter opponent for the Democratic nomination, to be his secretary of state. Could Obama expect loyalty from someone he had traded barbs with … Read When Teams Work

Dealing With the Government

PON Staff   •  01/17/2011   •  Filed in Conflict Resolution

Adapted from “Negotiating with Regulators,” by Lawrence Susskind (professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology), first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

When preparing to launch new products, plans, and innovations, an organization often must apply for licenses, permits, and other types of regulatory approvals from government agencies. Thankfully, even the most elaborate application processes allow individual regulators a … Read Dealing With the Government

Why Disclosure Doesn’t Work

PON Staff   •  11/29/2010   •  Filed in Conflict Resolution, Daily

Adapted from “Negotiating with Your Advisers,” first published in the Negotiation newsletter.

Our most trusted advisers face conflicts of interest between what is best for them and what is best for us. An attorney might give different advice about whether to settle a lawsuit depending on whether she would be paid by the hour or receive … Read Why Disclosure Doesn’t Work

Do You Really Know Yourself?

PON Staff   •  11/23/2010   •  Filed in Conflict Resolution, Daily

Adapted from the Negotiation newsletter.

Imagine an upcoming negotiation. How will you respond if your opponent seems bent on provoking an argument? If you’re like most people, you’ll have difficulty predicting your precise response. Professor Dan Gilbert of Harvard University found that when asked how a positive or negative event will affect their happiness, people accurately … Read Do You Really Know Yourself?

The Economy’s Looking Up: So, Can I Have a Raise?

PON Staff   •  11/19/2010   •  Filed in Conflict Resolution

Author: Sue Shellenbarger

It’s never easy to ask for a raise or extra perks, especially during a recession. To make matters worse, many workers have trouble negotiating a new compensation package on their own behalf. In this column, Iris Bohnet, a public policy professor and vice chair of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, … Read The Economy’s Looking Up: So, Can I Have a Raise?

Negotiation Advice for the 112th Congress

PON Staff   •  11/18/2010   •  Filed in Conflict Resolution, Daily, News

Professor Robert Bordone, director of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program and Tobias Berkman, Associate of HNMCP, published an article in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review titled Negotiation Advice for the 112th Congress. To read the full article, click here.

“There will be many post-mortems in the wake of the historic changes brought about … Read Negotiation Advice for the 112th Congress

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